NFL Trade Rumors
Jalen Ramsey may still be on the Dolphins’ roster, but judging by how the team discusses the situation, it’s just a matter of time until he’s traded for the third time in his career. At OTAs recently, the Dolphins defensive coaches were discussing Ramsey in the past tense. They also echoed GM Chris Grier who said earlier this offseason that the two sides had “mutually” decided to part ways.
So what’s the holdup? As it often does, it comes back to money. Ramsey is due over $20 million in guarantees for this upcoming season, and cutting that from the books seems to be the primary motivation for Miami in exploring a trade. But it’s not easy to find a team able or willing to take on that sum, even for a player of Ramsey’s reputation. While his resume speaks for itself, he turns 31 in October and age is especially unkind to cornerbacks in the NFL.
The Dolphins also have their reasons for waiting, though if the right offer had come along before the draft they absolutely would have pulled the trigger. If Miami trades Ramsey after June 1, the implications for the salary cap are easier to manage. A trade triggers $25.2 million in dead money regardless (plus whatever the Dolphins eat to facilitate a deal) but if the deal is done next week, only $6.745 million hits Miami’s books in 2025, with the rest shunted off to 2026.
Miami has just $13 million or so in cap space currently, so a pre-June 1 trade would eat up most of that. Trading Ramsey after June 1 creates more cap space. Given any draft picks would come in future years at this point, the Dolphins have plenty of reasons to hold off on trading Ramsey until June.
That answers the when, leaving the only remaining mysteries the who (which team trades for Ramsey) and the what (trade compensation). The what is almost certain to be “not much.” Ramsey’s age and salary are significant anchors to his value, especially if the Dolphins don’t want to eat any more of the bill than they already have. Miami is almost certainly not going to get anything higher than a Day 3 pick, and it’s likely to be closer to a seventh than a fourth unless its stance on the money changes.
Five teams have publicly been linked to Ramsey so far, including the Rams, Falcons, Lions, Commanders and Eagles. Before the draft, we also took a look at eight potential trade proposals for Ramsey. With the draft in the books and June just around the corner, it feels like a good time to revisit the market for Ramsey to see what has changed.
The Raiders were one of the teams we highlighted before the draft, as their cornerback depth chart was in a rough place. Since then, the team added Iowa State’s Darien Porter in the third round, a 6-4 former track athlete...
